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Envirocycle Composter-Green | 
| Brand: Envirocycle Systems
Buy New: $172.69
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description With the EnviroCycle drum/turning bins compost may be finished in 4 - 6 weeks in a rotating drum composter! Easier to handle and easier to turn the drum for effortless rotation. Turning is simple. You need no mixing tools. . To dump compost directly onto your soil or garden just latch the door and roll the drum off the base and into your garden. Remove the door so you can dump the compost right where you want it.. Approximate 120 to 156 degrees interior temperature.. Ideal for garden lawn and kitchen refuse.. Comes with composting instructions to help get you started.. Specifications: 7 cubic foot capacityDrum: Dimension: H 25.5 x W 25.5 x D 20 Base: Dimension: H 5.5 x W 21.5 x D 20.25 . Made of Virgin Plastic 50%/Post-Consumer Recycled Plastic 50%. Envirocycle Warranty: 5 years for the drum 2 years for the base and 1 year for the wheels/axles/caps
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| Customer Reviews: Read 11 more reviews...
Nice, but don't expect miracles. December 27, 2008 Ana Mardoll Envirocycle Composter / B000FCNH76
I bought a black envirocycle six months ago, as my first attempt at composting. I have mixed feelings - this composter does the job, but I wouldn't expect miracles. The compost seems to take a log time, even here in the hot American Southwest, and I'm now considering upgrading to one of the electric composters.
The Good: For a composter, it looks really nice and sleek in your garden. It takes about 5 seconds to set up and is so easy there are no instructions - just set the round part on the base and you're ready to roll. Literally, you roll the composter to aerate the compost and this is great if you have a bad back like I do and can't face weeks or months of turning compost with a rake or garden implements. The liquid drains into the basin relatively well, and ensures that you have nice dry compost at all times. And the black plastic absorbs the sun well and keeps the temperatures up.
The Bad: The plastic feels kind of cheap. I'm worried that this will not hold up well over time, especially the lid and clasp. If the lid clasp goes, so will the rolling feature, and that's a huge problem for me. Also, the lid doesn't fit very well and that means that compost liquid is always slogging out from under the lid when you're trying to turn. Speaking of liquid, if you plan to use the compost tea, the collector is a bit fiddly - the spigot is set back into the base, which means that a lot of the tea will collect around the spigot edges and will not come out. Since this is my first attempt at composting, I have nothing to compare to this, but the composting seems very slow. I was only really able to get one good batch in 6 months, before cold weather shut us down. And that was with a compost activator that seemed to do nothing. I'm wondering if this is normal, or if I need to upgrade to one of the electric composters.
Well, I'm not sorry I bought the envirocycle, but I probably won't buy another one.
Worth it! October 31, 2008 Dumitru Andries (East Meadow, NY United States) It is definitely a stand out. Cleverly designed, clean in function, blends nicely in green color. Remains to be seen how fast you get the compost. Logically, you would need two because I do not think the content degrades quickly, especially in the winter. So far I like it.
upgrades needed October 23, 2008 Rebecca J. Vinson (Guam, USA) 4 out of 4 found this review helpful
This was an easy composter to use. Tumbling is so much better than using a pitch fork. The size was nice too, not too big. We kept ours outside in the subtropics of Okinawa and the topics of Guam. Of course they attracted insects, flies, roaches, lizards, you name it. I have three complaints about it. Getting the compost out was difficult. Several times I thought I would break the door off its hinge because it is attached by just a small plastic hinge. Getting the worm tea out was hard too. The outlet valve is recessed, so you can never get all the liquid inside out completely, there is always some liquid pooled on the sides of the valve. If they'd just build it with the screw top sticking out, that wouldn't be a problem. What kind of an engineer didn't think of that on his/her own? You wouldn't think you need to get all the liquid out until you move and you can't pack it up because its dirty. The last problem was the drain holes from the composter into the tea storage bin. This design leaks. Don't put it in your house unless you place it on a catch basin that you intend to clean daily. I wrote the company with my critique and got no reply. Perhaps the post office lost it?
easy to use October 18, 2008 ASB (Ohio) This looked like the easiest way to try composting and so far it is really easy. I was a bit worried about the drainage into the base because you turn the drum but it has not been messy at all. The company has also been good to work with. I had a question because of the delivery company and they got back to me and handled it right away.
The Whole Story August 18, 2008 DanZ (Chicago, IL) 8 out of 8 found this review helpful
I just finished my first batch with the Envirocycle and here's what I think:
1. Easy to Assemble Very easy to put together. Only complaint is that the latch for the door is a little flimsy - opens up sometimes when you turn the drum.
2. The Process requires some work (about 5-10 minutes per day) You need to make sure the mix of brown and green material is right. Too much green and it starts to smell. Definitely add lots of brown.
You also need to break up the material with a stick or pole. Everything in the drum has the tendency to clump together and this makes turning MUCH more difficult.
Definitely gather the compost tea. I can't imagine letting that stuff just drip out the sides. It also is something that you can use as you wait for your compost to be ready.
In short, if you think you're going to be simply tossing stuff into this thing, turning it and walking away...guess again.
3. Composting Process can take awhile I was adding things incrementally in little bits - this means the process will take longer and eventually you will need to "close the batch" - that is stop putting things in and allow the process to completely finish. This is why if you're really into composting you may need to buy two of these things: You can stop one and continue adding to to the other one.
FINAL NOTE: I am happy with this product - it has made it relatively easy for me to do composting and I now have the hang of it. I'm looking forward to doing a second batch and to continuing with composting. However, I don't think I'm going to buy two of these.
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